Why do Americans not care about the opinions of Iraqis?

Question

I can post stuff on various discussion boards that provoke agreement or violent disagreement, but usually if I post anything about opinion polls of Iraqis, few from the right or left bother to read them.

Since we are supposedly trying to teach them about democracy, shouldn't this be a major part of our debate? Instead we talk among ourselves about what we want to do for or to them.

POLLS OF IRAQIS:
http://whatiraqiswant.blogspot.com/
http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/brmiddleeastnafricara/250.php?nid=&id=&pnt=250&lb=brme

The blog might have funny pictures on it, but the sources are legit, if you follow the links blogged about.

Elections are good though Bush vetoed the Iraqis first choice as prime ministered, and applied heavy pressure during the writing of the constitution and current hydrocarbon law, which undoes the one popular thing Saddam did, nationalizing their oil.

The Iraqis also had to demonstrate to get direct elections rather than Bush just installing Chalabi as appeared to be the original plan.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3401559.stm

Much like our government, polls are a way to see if elected officials are responsive to the people they elected to represent.

We also held elections in South Vietnam, but somehow the elections didn't seem to fully reflect the will of the Vietnamese since we got chased out anyway.
http://www.counterpunch.org/christison02042005.html

Pachl, the Iraqis could see with their own eyes what were doing and not doing after we invaded, and whatever the validity of the election, the parliament and especially prime minister are under tremendous pressure from Bush. The PM said if they doesn't pass the Hydrocarbon Law that gives up to 80% of Iraq's oil income to our oil corporations, Bush will no longer support him, which means he will be deposed and/or killed.
http://professorsmartass.blogspot.com/2007/03/iraqi-prime-minister-bush-will-fire-me.html

You are making the assumption that the Bush administration is over there doing charity work with the best interests of the Iraqis at heart.

They are not.

They went in with a plan to privatize everything and allow 100% foreign ownership of everything.
http://www.gregpalast.com/adventure-capitalism-the-hidden-2001-plan-to-carve-up-iraq/

The Bus themselves were worried enough that this might be war crimes that they consulted lawyers about it.
http://www.harpers.org/archive/200

Answer 1

You're quite correct. Many Americans are deluded and think the US has the rights to police the entire world. They actually think that everyone would like to be an American and envies the US. Having been manipulated into this "war" suggests that perhaps they should redefine their views and "listen" for a change. Most Americans have little thought anent the Iraqi people and consider them substandard in reference to their ideologies and culture. Their own superficiality and ego doesn't allow them to harmonize effectively with other members of the world community who doesn't spend a great deal of time and money at the mall.

Answer 2

I think military conflicts need to be fought MUCH MORE with information dissemination. For example, I wonder how much less powerful the insurgents would be if, at the outset of the war, we made sure every Iraqi was informed about what exactly is happening and what our intentions are.

Thru radio, tv, the press, leaflets distributed in every town, we could have said something like:

"We have freed you from your brutal dictator. That was the easy part. The hard part comes in forming a stable government that represents the will of the prople. Democracy is not neat and tidy. It is a wall of voices all clamouring to be heard at the same time. It will take you some time to adjust to this new style of government, but you can be assured of one thing: in the end it will bring lasting peace. No two legitimate democracies have ever gone to war against one another.

We will not stay in your country any longer than necessary. Our mission is accomplished once your own democractically elected government, military, and police force is strong enough to stand on its own. Then, we will leave, and the future of Iraq will belong to the Iraqi people. We ask for your help in making our stay as short as possible."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I don't want to sound dismissive about the opinions of the Iraqi people, but you must understand that very few of them realize what is really happening. Did you carefully read what the Iraqi Prime Minister said?

Read it again: "There would be chaos and perhaps civil war," he said. "We are now fighting a world war launched by terrorists against civilisation, against democracy, against progress, against all the values of humanity.

"If British troops withdrew, the terrorists would say, 'Look, we have imposed our will on the most accomplished armed forces in the world and terror is the way to oblige the Europeans to surrender to us."

He has the advantage of PERSPECTIVE. The Prime Minister knows what is actually transpiring. It is like standing on top of a mountain, and clearly seeing the entire area. In sharp contrast, the Iraqi people are like someone stuck in the bottom of a valley; they can't see more than a short distance in any direction.

A President or Prime Minister is supposed to be a STATESMAN, not some grimy politician, only interested in votes or his own advancement. It appears the Iraqi President fulfills his duty by doing what is best for his people. A President cannot listen to the uninformed whims of a populace who does not have a clear picture of what is happening. Don't you think the Iraqi people would feel betrayed if he just caved into popular opinion? In the end, I'm sure the would. If Western troops leave before the Iraqi government and army is stable enough, the insurgents will re-establish some type of dictatorship, and probably be a puppet state of Iran. The ordinary Iraqi is not politically sophisticated enough to realize this. It is for this reason we elect leaders in whom we can have faith to do what is necessary, not what is popular or expedient.

Answer 3

That's pretty enlightening. It was my understanding that many Iraqis were asking us to stay and protect them from the other Iraqis intent on killing them. Because I find it hard to believe that the group that won the election - the group that is getting killed, btw - was actually a 10 to 1 minority, I suspect the first poll is seriously skewed.
The second poll is more detailed and shows pretty clearly that the Sunnis hate us. No ****, Sherlock. They want to be left alone so they can kill Shi'ites and Kurds in peace.

Answer 4

"Democracy" is a fiction. "Democracy" is when the rich and powerful convince the sheep that they have a voice, too, when in fact they don't.

Americans don't care about the opinion of Iraqis because, relative to them, Americans are strong and Iraqi citizens are weak.

In this world, the powerful make the rules to benefit the powerful, and the rest are supposed to respect that, which is achieved by several means: propaganda, deception (making them think they also have a voice), confrontation (confronting people of different religions, races, etc.) and many more.

Answer 5

Poll's are not elections. They are someone's interpretation of a number (usually 1000 total, did you know their are over 50 million people in iraq?) of people.

The elections voted for a democratic government. That is the poll we should be looking at. The people in Iraq that are waging war against the new government are a minority.

Answer 6

Which ones? The peaceful ones, or al-Sadr's followers, who want all who disagree with them, dead? Iraq holds a large diversity of people. You can't lump them into one big mass. They don't fit.

The 75% who went to the poles on election day are OK with us there. It's the radical fringe- those Muslims who believe in killing- who want us out, so they can take over like Hussein did.

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Answer 7

Because Americans are arrogant and their minds are made up that the rest of the world is wrong and only they are right... with Americans it's ALL ABOUT THEM... and they don't care about what the rest of the world thinks.

It's been that way for over 200 years and is also the reason the America has been at war for 20 years for every year of piece they have had.

Answer 8

You post links that have Bush as little puppets and show him as monkey. Your "sources" might be the problem.

The site may well be legit, but some people will simply not look at the site for that reason. As soon as I saw it, I closed it.

Answer 9

Mostly it's because Americans hate Iraqis! plain and simple, they killed U.S. citizens and U.S. pride, or the towers. It doesn't matter that they didn't personally do it. It matters that they are part of that crowd that did do it. Most or all Americans also completely reject any Iraqi or Somalian person for their insane beliefs. They bomb places for 'pride and honor' (bull$h!t). and they wash their feet in toilets and pray to a rock. Now who can respect the opinion of anyone who does these things.

Answer 10

Just look where their opinions got them in the first place. If they had had the guts to stand up to the Baathists in the first place Saddam would never have come to power.